Beer – #530 – Weezledog – Epiphany

Enlightenment, Enlightening, Light on numbers and Light hearted parties

“… a full flavoured but sessionable brew, purpose built for the long summer afternoons. “

This is a 500 ml bottle that is of 5.5% ABV, making it 2.7 standard drink units, the bottle is about 220 calories give or take, and this is at 40 IBU things

Weezledog – Epiphany, brewed by Weezledog Brewing Company this is in that style that is: Golden Ale/Blond Ale and they do that in Auckland, New Zealand

Blonde Ale is very much a catch all category for easy drinking pale ales combining malty flavours with a moderate dose of hops.

I’m converted

Our Blonde, like all our beers, pushes the boundaries of what a beer style can be. Big, sweet, honey and biscuit malt flavours up front followed by a hard whack of Kiwi hops and a long, bitter finish ensures a full flavoured but sessionable brew, purpose built for the long summer afternoons.

This is a great entry point to our range, and New Zealand craft beer in general, balanced malt and hops, firmly bitter and highly drinkable this may well be your gateway to the ever changing and expanding world of Kiwi craft beers.
Made, as always, with all local malt and hops, the water is pure and has no added minerals or salts providing a natural beer with a true New Zealand flavour.

So what could go wrong?

Zesty hoppy on opening.

Its a really brilliant chestnut brown pour, but I couldn’t get a head, which isn’t such a disaster. Aroma now seems to have a lot of tangelo or mandarin orange, and this made me smile.

Then there is the taste. Which isn’t at all like what you could expect. I don’t know what to pick from that.

I get a light dusting of oranges which is very light, and there seems to be no other discernible or noticeable bitterness.

I certainly don’t get any hop-forward taste. It’s nicely balanced without anything rough, the middle is soft and the finish is crisp without being annoying or lingering.

It really is a nice beer. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Except that Whilst I think the description bigs this up – using words like ‘big’ and ‘pushes the boundaries’ this is what it is, there is no ‘masking’ going on, there isn’t an added thing to hide a mistake, or a missing thing that makes this short somewhere, it is what it is, as advertised.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as a 9 of its things from the thing. This is quaffing beer and sits well for a session, But it isn’t a sparkling beer, there needs perhaps to be a notch up on a flavour, more orange for instance, some highlight. Then we might be talking, it is however worth a drink, or two, and I’d sit smiling if I was out on the town and this was on tap.

The double dip review

Am I enjoying it? It really is a very enjoyable beer, very.
Would I have another? Yes, I’d go looking for this again, it’s a non challenging, high reward beer.
Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? Yes, there isn’t much you could fault with this, you could try and pick a fault but it is what it is.

I’m listening to some music by “The Tallest Man on Earth” Kristian Matsson is a singer-songwriter from Dalarna, Sweden. This is some good Folk Music that is highlighted by thoughtful lyrics and clever music.

This is ‘1904’ from an album of music called “There’s No Leaving Now”

The voice reminds me of Bob Dylan. The toe tapping reminds me that it’s good to listen to.

GOLDEN ALE/BLOND ALE

There are a few different types of blond ale. The first is the traditional “Canadian Ale”, an adjunct-laden, macrobrewed, top-fermented equivalent of the American Standard. The second is common in US brewpubs – a light starter ale, with marginally more hop and body than a macrobrew, fewer adjuncts, but still not a flavourful beer by any means. The British interpretation is easily the boldest, hoppiest blond ale rendition. Some of these can almost be considered American Pales they are so hopped up – very crisp, refreshing, with relatively low alcohol compared with their North American counterparts.